No hooker jokes, folks: Apparently, President Trump has gotten sick of blowing his own horn and instead has hired a professional.

You might remember Kayleigh McEnany from the heady days of the campaign. She’s the CNN commentator who endorsed Trump waaay back when, and upon whom they regularly called to defend his positions. She’s now working directly for Trump (more…)

The Syrian Civil War has been characterized by the United Nations as the “great humanitarian crisis of our age”. A nation of twenty million, Syria has lost twenty percent of its population, most of whom have fled as international refugees. On the other hand, over a hundred thousand foreign militants have gone there to fight, and the armed forces of a dozen nations have deployed in what has become one of the biggest proxy wars in all of history.

Those who read my articles surely know by now I tilt at windmills on the Internet. Most people in my circle of acquaintance see the inhumanity and incivility and they just accept it; they say, “What do you expect? It’s the Internet.” And they let it go.

I could, I suppose, but I’ve long believed that we all have a duty to improve the world around us if we can; that an accumulation of small good deeds and kindnesses is the only bulwark we can raise against that genuine evil (more…)

It’s getting so I hate to turn on the news. I physically cringe. Bear with me here.

Here’s a quick recap: There was a shooting yesterday, a man I think can best be described as a domestic terrorist plinking away at a Congressional charity baseball team at practice. There was a horrific fire at a London apartment highrise where, apparently, the sprinklers malfunctioned and dozens of people were killed. (It’s been called “corporate manslaughter”.) Congress approved a multibillion dollar arms sale to Qatar, a nation presently (more…)

We send our thoughts and prayers to the victims of the Manchester concert bombing, and rightly so. Thousands have given direct material help, including a hegira of free cab rides and housing for displaced concert attendees. Ariana Grande, who we’d mainly thought of as a typical self-absorbed pop star, had a big charity concert to benefit the victims and in consequence is now generally acknowledged to be “probably human“.

Manchester was one of the first of the big bangs preceding this year’s Ramadan attacks. Thus far (more…)

In the Mexican state of Sinaloa, a new wave of violence has erupted since the January inauguration of new Governor Quirino Ordaz Coppel, who reportedly is contesting the Sinaloa Cartel‘s exclusive control of the police force.

Meanwhile, in Mindanao, in the southern Philippines, martial law has been declared following armed clashes between the national army and Moro separatists allegedly fighting under the banner of Abu Sayyaf, an ISIS affiliate which funds its activities through the smuggling of guns, drugs, and slaves — much like the Sinaloa Cartel, albeit with a strikingly different ethos.

What do these two conflicts have in common? Among other things, they’re both being largely paid for by the United States. Both sides of both wars are using American dollars to kill each other. (more…)

Google made headlines recently when they announced an adjustment to their search algorithm to reduce the spread of “Fake News”. Apparently, The Not Fake News has made their list. I’m annoyed, but on the other hand — that’s life in a nation of free speech, free expression, and a free press.